Hearing Him Breathe
by Enray
Summary: The helmet was making it hard for Edmund to breathe. She lifted his head and placed it on her lap. It was the strap. The leather was digging into his placid skin, forcing him to fight for every breath. Companion fic to "Finding Him Healing".


A companion fic to _Finding Him Healing_.

Disclaimer: If I owned Chronicles of Narnia, I wouldn't be posting fanfics on fanfiction.

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_The helmet was making it hard for Edmund to breathe. She lifted his head and placed it on her lap. It was the strap. The leather was digging into his placid skin, forcing him to fight for every breath._

_She quickly unbuckled the strap, but it held fast. The strap refused to release its hold on her brother's throat, mercilessly depriving him of his much needed air. She prodded, pulled, tugged, but her efforts bore no fruit, and only seemed to add to Edmund's discomfort._

_Lucy knelt down beside Edmund. With trembling hands, she pulled open her cordial and lifted it above Edmund's mouth. Her breath caught in her throat as she watched her younger sister let one drop of the fireflower juice fall through Edmund's parted lips._

_The colour slowly returned to his face. Her brother relaxed slightly in her arms as the wound at his abdomen was healed. However, something wasn't right._

_Her brother's brow was ceased in a frown. His parted lips moved as he struggled to breathe. Susan quickly returned to her forgotten task with feverish haste. The fireflower juice may have healed the stab wound made by the White Witch, but the helmet that was supposed to protect him was now killing him._

_Susan pulled and tugged, but the strap refused to loosen. Her brother took a shuddering gasp and laid still. Susan stared down at the limp figure in shock. She waited, her breathing short and shallow. _

_She waited for a movement, a twitch from his fingers, a flutter from his eyelids, a single breath, any indication that he was alive._

"_What happened? Wasn't the cordial supposed to heal any wound?" Lucy choked, tears streamed down her cheeks._

"_It was the strap." Peter said bitterly, his blue eyes glistened with unshed tears._

_Susan pulled at the leather strap. It came undone, and the helmet fell to the ground. Her heart followed soon after and shattered into a million pieces._

Blue eyes snapped open. Her breath came in short gasps as she stared up at the silk canopy above her bed. She stayed still as she fought to calm down her panicked breathing.

Now that she was awake, the fog caused by the nightmare had no place in her mind. As the nightmare's hold on her loosened, her mind cleared enough for her to think clearly.

The Battle of Beruna ended four months ago. All four of them, including Edmund, survived the battle and participated in their coronation. They had been spending more time together in that short four months than they had for a long time. In fact, she had only just talked to the younger king during dinner. The dream she had was only a fear that twisted itself into her dreams.

She closed her eyes, satisfied with the reasoning her mind had supplied her with.

_A pale face. T__he limp weight on her lap._

Her eyes flew open, disrupting the image that had jumped unbidden into her mind. She gave a short hollow laugh. Despite the reasoning of her mind, her heart was still shaken by the nightmare she had.

Susan swung her legs off her bed, slipped into her satin slippers and made her way to her royal brother's chamber. Maybe she would be able to return to her slumber if she was presented with solid evidence that her royal brother was still alive.

It did not take long for her to reach Edmund's quarter, for it was located just opposite her own private chamber. She turned the silver doorknob and opened the door without a sound. The Gentle Queen stepped into the moonlight bathed room, closing the door silently behind her.

Susan headed towards the bed, her footsteps muffled by the soft carpet. The figure on the bed showed no signs of being awake. There was no sign of discomfort on his pale face, only peacefulness.

A frown ceased her brow. His face was too pale. Edmund was always pale, but not to this extent. He looked white, even more so than during his brief brush with death.

_His eyes closed, the beautiful brown eyes never to be seen again._

Her hands moved before she knew it, pulling away the blanket around his throat. She lowered her head. An ear was placed above his mouth, her blue eyes looked ahead to his chest. His warm breath tickled her ear in time with the rise and fall of his chest.

Susan straightened with a sigh of relief. The solid proof was before her, her brother had not died during the Battle of Beruna. All of them were safe. She turned to leave the room, but hesitated at the door.

The Gentle Queen took a long look at her younger brother. Pale moonlight spilled from the large window, bathing Edmund in an ethereal glow. It was the pale light that made him look so white when she first entered.

She quietly backed out of the room and closed the doors. Her satin slippers made no sound against the soft carpet as she headed back to her room. If she had stayed any longer, she feared that she would have stayed until she fell asleep, just like what happened with Lucy not too long ago.

A small smile touched her lips. The chance to give Edmund a morning fright was tempting. She still remembered the bewildered look on his face when he found Lucy curled up at his side. The scream that brought her and Peter to the room was unexpected and became the source of much teasing for a few days.

Susan stopped in the middle of the hallway. Should she return to her bed, or go to Edmund's? Her logical side told her that she was already halfway to her own heather bed, her 'illogical' or 'fun' side, the one that was growing stronger with each passing day, told her that she was the same distance away from her bed as she was from Edmund's. Their beds were quite big, so it didn't matter, really, if they shared. Edmund didn't move much in his sleep, the most he did was roll over to a more comfortable position.

The Gentle Queen continued to walk. She pushed the door open and closed it behind her. When she reached the bed, she kicked off her slippers and slid under the warm covers.

"Goodnight, Edmund." She said softly.

The older sister made sure once more that her royal brother was breathing before she rested her head on the pillow, letting his breathing lull her to sleep.

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Please let me know what you think about this.


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